MOSCOW - Ninety percent of newly-detected COVID-19 cases in Moscow are being registered as the more contagious Delta variant of the virus, the Russian capital's mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Wednesday.

Sobyanin said Moscow's healthcare system was operating "close to its capacity" after the spike which prompted him to introduce fresh restrictions in the city of 13 million.

(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Andrew Heavens) ((olzhas.auyezov@thomsonreuters.com; +7 727 2508 500; Reuters Messaging: olzhas.auyezov.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))